[Preliminary study of tumor perfusion assessment with multidetector CT in carcinoma of esophagus and cardia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical application of first-pass perfusion MDCT in the assessment of tumor angiogenesis in carcinoma of esophagus and cardia.

METHODS: CT perfusion was performed with multi-detector row CT (MDCT) in 44 patients with carcinoma of esophagus and esophagogastric junction, who was diagnosed with pathological results and did not received any anti-tumor therapy. Twenty-one patients with peripheral lung cancer but normal esophagus were served as controls. Perfusion parameters were compared between normal and malignant esophagus, between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, as well as between tumors with metastases and those without metastases.

RESULTS: Carcinoma of esophagus and esophagogastric junction showed higher blood flow, peak enhancement index, blood volume, and shorter time to peak compared with normal esophagus (P < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in perfusion parameters between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (P > 0.05), whereas tumors with metastases showed higher blood flow and shorter time to peak compared with those without metastases (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: MDCT perfusion could assess tumor vascularity in carcinoma of esophagus and esophagogastric junction, and tumor vascularity or angiogenesis was not influenced by its histological type. However, high blood flow and short time-to-peak may be helpful to predict tumor metastases.